TV REVIEW Battlestar Galactica 4.05 "The Road Less Travelled

Written by: Mark Verheiden

Directed by: Michael Rymer

Rating:

The One Where: There’s discontent on the Demetrius: Starbuck’s been fruitlessly searching for Earth for 58 days, and it’s nearly time to return to the fleet. Then they encounter a damaged Raider, with Leoben Conoy on board. Leoben tells Starbuck the Hybrid has the answers she needs, and proposes an alliance between his Cylon faction and the fleet. When Starbuck orders the crew to jump to Leoben’s baseship, the crew revolts, and Helo relieves her of command.

Survivor Count: 39,676

Verdict: Mutiny on the Bounty! In space! It’s all a bit predictable, since Starbuck is so obviously losing it – she looks so cracked it’s a wonder she’s held on to her command for so long.

The show needs more forward momentum, and this one feels like filler. The only real point of interest is the advent of an alliance between Galactica and a faction of Cylons – a revolutionary turn of events, unthinkable as recently as a few episodes ago.

Star Turn: The best work in this episode is all from Aaron Douglas, as Galen goes a bit Travis Bickle. There’s a magnificent moment where, overcome with anguish, he toys with blowing his brains out. Even better is the scene when he makes his peace with Baltar, in which Douglas shows what a great actor can do without words – he doesn’t have a single line of dialogue, but he’s a powerful presence.

Nitpick: Encountering Leoben’s damaged Raider is a bit fortuitous, isn’t it? Space is a big place.

Best Line:
Leoben: "What is the most basic article of faith? That this is not all that we are..."

Ian Berriman

Go to previous episode of Battlestar Galactica
Go to next episode of Battlestar Galactica